Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'We Have A Responsibility To Create Jobs'

In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek published Thursday morning, Apple CEO Tim Cook took a drastic turn away from his predecessor's legacy.

"I do feel we have a responsibility to create jobs," Cook said. "I don't think we have a responsibility to create a certain kind of job, but I think we do have a responsibility to create jobs."

The quote stands in sharp contrast to sentiments expressed by an Apple executive in a widely read New York Times story published at the beginning of the year: “We don’t have an obligation to solve America’s problems. Our only obligation is making the best product possible," an Apple executive said at the time.

That Times story brought wide criticism down on Apple for outsourcing so much of the work that goes into producing its iProducts. In the piece "How The U.S. Lost Out On iPhone Work," CEO and founder Steve Jobs is quoted telling President Barack Obama that his company would not bring jobs back to the United States.

Cook defended Apple's job creation record in his interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, saying: "I think if you fairly look at it -- we've had this estimated by other parties -- we've created about 600,000 jobs in the U.S. They all don’t work for Apple. We're part of a global economy."

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5 Companies Apple Aped

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5 Companies Apple Aped

Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'We Have A Responsibility To Create Jobs'

5 Companies Apple Aped

5 Companies Apple Aped

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Samsung

This is most the obvious and the most packed with irony, given that Apple is <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/24/apple-samsung-lawsuit-verdict_n_1829268.html?1345857263&utm_hp_ref=technology" target="_hplink">suing</a> Samsung in every country it can. The new, larger iPhone -- with a 4-inch display vs. the 3.5-inch display on all older models -- is closer in size to the 4.8-inch span on the Galaxy S III's screen. Was Apple's decision to up the iPhone's screen real estate a response to the popularity of Samsung's plus-sized and popular handsets?